Arizona hospital critical care bed capacity reaches 93%

By Dan Engler

Originally Published: December 23, 2020 9:06 a.m.

Arizona hospital intensive care unit bed capacity has now reached 93%. December’s COVID-19 caseload has confirmed 136,083 positive tests.

The Arizona Department of Health Services also reports 1,492 COVID-19 deaths in December.

Locally, Verde Valley Medical Center in Cottonwood Wednesday reported a hospital census 65 patients with eight in critical care. The Cottonwood hospital is currently caring for 23 COVID-positive patients.

Since testing began in January, ADHS has documented 473,273 COVID-19 cases and 8,179 deaths. The state’s cumulative positive-test ratio has climbed to 11.7%

With 6,058 new cases and 54 deaths reported in Arizona Wednesday morning, December’s cumulative caseload for the month is the highest seen in 2020. December’s daily average for COVID-19 deaths (67) is also the peak for 2020.

COVID-19 cases and deaths by month

-12,475 cases and 597 deaths in May.

-63,920 cases and 803 deaths in June.

-92,930 cases and 1,977 deaths in July.

-25,307 cases and 1,297 deaths in August.

-16,361 cases and 600 deaths in September.

-28,216 cases and 306 deaths in October.

-89,658 cases and 733 deaths in November.

-So far in December, 136,083 cases and 1,492 deaths.

Demographic breakdown of Arizona cases

The Wednesday morning ADHS data shows the 65-and-older age group has accounted for 5,969 of the state’s 8,179 deaths. There have been 1,236 deaths reported among people 55-64 years of age.

ADHS reports women contract the virus in higher numbers than men in Arizona (52%), but more men than women die from COVID-19 (58%).

Location of cases

Maricopa County continues to dominate the state’s concentration of COVID-19 cases with 291,412 since testing began.

Current cumulative caseload totals in Arizona include:

-Pima County has 62,159 cases.

-Yuma County, 25,588 cases.

-Pinal County, 24,789 cases.

-Mohave County, 10,699 cases.

-Navajo County, 10,650 cases.

-Coconino County, 10,303 cases.

-Yavapai County, 9,902 cases.

Testing data

ADHS reports 3.08 million Arizonans have been tested for COVID-19 with the state’s positive test ratio at 11.7%.

People between the ages of 20 and 44 have had the highest number of positive tests (214,835), with 420 deaths. Seniors 65-and-older have tested positive 58,784 times with 5,969 deaths.

See www.azdhs.gov.

Yavapai County

Thursday morning, Yavapai County reported 216 new COVID-19 cases and seven deaths since Wednesday.

Included in that total are 52 new cases in the Verde Valley with 24 being reported in Cottonwood and 10 in Camp Verde.

Since testing began in January, Yavapai County has confirmed 10,129 cases of coronavirus with 186 deaths and 3,699 recoveries.

Yavapai County Community Health Services has confirmed 3,429 cases in the Sedona-Verde Valley region since testing began. That total includes:

-1,408 confirmed in Cottonwood.

-721 in Camp Verde.

-457 in Sedona.

-222 in Rimrock.

-219 in Clarkdale.

-204 in Cornville.

-178 in the Village of Oak Creek.

-19 in Jerome.

-One case elsewhere in the Verde Valley.

YCCHS reports 78,000 people in Yavapai County have been tested for COVID-19 with 87% of those being negative.

Of the total cumulative positive cases in Yavapai County, 54% have been women. Of the total COVID-19 deaths in Yavapai County, 60% have been men.

See www.yavapai.us/chs.

Hospital Reports

Verde Valley Medical Center Wednesday reported 23 COVID-positive patients admitted with one test pending. The Cottonwood hospital showed a census of 65 patients with eight in critical care.

Flagstaff Medical Center reported 55 positive tests with nine results pending. FMC has admitted 205 patients; 37 of those patients are in critical care.

See nahealth.com/covid-19-resources.

U.S. and global totals

The most recent estimates of U.S. and global cases of COVID-19 put the U.S. cumulative caseload at 18.3 million Wednesday morning, with the U.S. death tally at 323,000, the highest of any nation in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University.

More Americans have now died from COVID-19 than the death tallies from the 1957-58 Asian Flu pandemic (116,000 U.S. deaths) and the 1968 Hong Kong Flu pandemic (100,000 U.S. deaths). It still pales in comparison to the death count from the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic that claimed 675,000 American lives, and at least 50 million worldwide.

AIDS claims about 13,000 U.S. lives each year.

There are an estimated 78 million cases worldwide cumulatively, with 1.72 million deaths and 44 million recoveries.

COVID-19 confirmed cases in Arizona

Dec. 22, 467,215 cases

Dec. 12, 402,599 cases

Dec. 4, 352,101cases

Nov. 23, 302,323 cases

Nov. 4, 250,633 cases

Aug. 27, 200,139 cases

July 22, 150,609 cases

July 6 101,441 cases

July 3 91,858 cases